UP ALL NIGHT AT MOCA

North Adams, Massachussetts, is a strange place for a gala. Yet over Memorial Day weekend over 800 contributors, business luminaries, artists and art-appreciators gathered at MASS MoCA to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Beginning with the opening of three exhibitions--George Cochrane’s Long Time Gone, Guy Ben-Ner’s Thursday the 12th and This is Killing Me--followed, by dinner and dancing to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the Berkshires’ beacon of arts and culture felt reborn. Guests included artists, such as Guy Ben-Ner, George Cochrane, Spencer Finch, Karl Haendel and Natalie Jeremijenko, whose works exist at the intersection of science, environmentalism and art.

Over the past decade MASS MoCA has established itself among the finest, most visited sites for new art in the country. With support from business leaders, such as Hans Morris (a board member), and an array of patrons (eg. Meryl Streep, Jeff Koons, Bill Ford), MoCA has managed to exhibit the brightest contemporary talents and thrive as a centre for music, dance and performance. Past exhibitions have included works by Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt, David Byrne, Fluxus and Robert Wilson.

After the last bowtie had come undone and the champagne had stopped flowing, guests were left to browse the converted former Sprague Electric Mill’s inviting spaces, which included a sculpture garden (featuring Jeremijenko’s upended trees) and a Sol LeWitt retrospective. The museum's calendar includes an exhibition by Anselm Kiefer, a stand-up show by Eugene Mirman and musical performances from Aimee Mann and Blonde Redhead. That's a promising line-up, and a good way to ensure ten more successful years, at least.

~ JOHN ORTVED

Picture credit: MASS MoCA